Abstract

The purpose of the work reported here is to further experimentally explore the wide variety of behaviors exhibited by driven vibrating wires, primarily in the nonlinear regime. When the wire is driven near a resonant frequency, it is found that most such behaviors are significantly affected by the splitting of the resonant frequency and by the existence of a “characteristic” axis associated with each split frequency. It is shown that frequency splitting decreases with increasing wire tension and can be altered by twisting. Two methods are described for determining the orientation of characteristic axes. Evidence is provided, with a possible explanation, that each axis has the same orientation everywhere along the wire. Frequency response data exhibiting nonlinear generation of transverse motion perpendicular to the driving direction, hysteresis, lineargeneration of perpendicular motion (sometimes tubular), and generation of motion at harmonics of the driving frequency are exhibited and discussed. Also reported under seemingly unchanging conditions are abrupt large changes in the harmonic content of the motion that sometimes involve large subharmonics and harmonics thereof. Slow transitions from one stable state of vibration to another and quasiperiodic motions are also exhibited. Possible musical significance is discussed.